For the odd spot, I personally think that sticking to a good skin care routine morning and night is probably the most important thing, rather than using specific products. As long as the products are thoroughly cleaning then moisturising to your skin, but not harshly drying it out, then you should see some improvement. (This isn't necessarily the case for acne of course, which might require medical treatment)

(Original post by JoshhB)
There is skincare called Dermalogica it is very expensive (£30-40) but it is fantastic, i have used it twice a day for about a year and half and its healing my scars and prevents spots.

You can buy it in certain skincare shops, however i get mine from Ebay it is much cheaper and comes in big bottles that will last at least 2 months. It really is fantastic, i'm a guy and i use it all the time, it works for all types of skin too.

Nothing, seriously. I've never had really bad acne or anything but I had a few spots, and I used so many products but none of them worked and some made it worse. So I just decided to stop using them all together, eat healthier and drink more water. Worked for me

(Original post by serious.sam)
I've tried many and I am still getting spots, and a lot of marks/scars which won't go away, can anyone recommend the best brands to use?

I have previously used Nivea and Freederm.

If you're getting scarring, seriously just see your GP. They can prescribe washes, gels, creams, antibiotics as required. They can also prescribe stronger things that are not available to buy over the counter. Also the things GPs will prescribe have been tested and proven to work for the majority of people, whereas many over the counter products are not thoroughly tested.

If you leave your acne untreated, you will get more scars.

The first thing suggested is often benzoyl peroxide. For some people this really helps, but it can irritate the skin at first and cause dryness. You can buy products containing benzoyl peroxide over the counter, but it's worth seeing your GP. The prescriptions are not ridiculously expensive either.

If your skin is really bad or the treatments from your GP don't work, they will refer you to a dermatologist.

As mentioned above, Dermalogica works wonders. Not just the cream, they also do a gentle exfoliant which is great for cleansing and preventing spots, not just dealing with them after they have broken out.

A few other products worth trying are...
- Tea Tree Oil. Use it as a cleanser (straight on cotton wool) or as a face wash (a few drops in water). It really works for me! The Body Shop also do an amazing Tea Tree Oil face mask which clears my skin really well.
- Lush's "Ultra Bland" exfoliator
- Seaweed products are really good, like Tea Tree they freshen up skin and deal with excess oil. The Body Shop do a great cleanser, toner and day cream that I love!
- Soap & Glory do a spot gel called "Knock your spots off", it actually works quite well!
- Coconut oil works wonders on skin, but because it is very oily, use only a little at a time, once or twice a week, cleansing afterwards.

Look for products which control excess oil/sebum/shine and which don't contain a lot of oil as this will cause spots. You need light, gentle products that will clean your skin without clogging it. It's really important to get a good skin routine going, as well as a really good diet. Make sure you are drinking enough water, eating enough fruit/veg. to get the essential vitamins, avoiding fatty/greasy foods. Exercising and sleep are also really important. Also make sure you keep your hair away from your face as that is just asking for sweat/products to make their way into your skin, clog up your pores and cause break outs.

According to the literature the thing to do if you have acne is use a mild cleanser like Beautifully Balanced Purifying Cleanser, for Oily/Combination Skin from Boots (I recommend this one because it is mild, does not contain irritants and is £4) then use a BHA toner. I use a paula's choice (it's pricey but worth it) and then use a benzyl peroxide over the counter treatment. The BP will be something you need to read the instructions on carefully as it can cause redness. Don't use a moisturiser unless you get dryness.

If you only have the occasional spot the thing to do is everything but the BP.

I hope this helps. This is the current gold standard according to the literature.

(Original post by timeofflight)
1 3 4 5 7 8 All will not work. 6 However is the only thing that has actually been proven to work. 5 Will actually make things worse.

What a sweeping comment to make. Although I see why you'd say that (probably have read a few things saying diet plays little part, skin irritation causes acne etc etc) the amount of effort and research I've put into cleaning up my skin including reading hundreds of articles on it, reading countless forum posts reading what people suggest and seeing numerous dermatologists (in fact my aunt actually is one), and most people's acne is aggravated by many of those points. Yes, a lot isn't 'proven' (although the notion that diet plays no part in skin care is one that's now being laughed at by dermatologists), but to have someone come along and say 'According to the literature' when they have no idea of how much knowledge the previous person providing the advice actually has on the subject is not only unfair on the OP, but also just out right arrogant.

I'll break down the reasoning of the post I made the other day as at the time I was in a rush and perhaps didn't go into it clearly enough. Basically different people have different 'triggers' which result in acne. High GI foods and dairy are accepted to be one of the more common triggers. For some people cutting both out would be beneficial, for others changing that aspect of your diet will make very little difference (although the derm I saw at sk:n swore that nearly everyone she told to cut high GIs out saw a major improvement). This is one of the things I did which made the most difference to my skin. Dairy doesn't really make a difference for me, but GIs definitely do.

Drinking 4 litres of water per day along with taking vit D, omega 3 (stay low on omega 6), vitamin C and zinc (as soon as I started taking 50mg per day of zinc along with 1000mg of EPA/DHA (omega 3), my skin pretty much became flawless. Worked with my brother and my cousin.

The steaming advice will work if done once every 4 days (or once a week for people with oily skin), the trick is not to overdo it as that'll lead to your skin producing excess oils which will clog pores and lead to more acne.

The idea that somebody could say having dirty pillows doesn't effect acne is laughable.

Realistically OP some of those points will most likely work for you. After 3 years of bad acne and hundreds spent on products, my skin finally became good after I started following those points above. Right now I have no spots whatsoever and my skin care routine consists of using a cleanser, a salicylic acid treatment lotion (although haven't used that in weeks as I haven't had any spots), a 'maintenence syrum' with malic and mandelic acid to keep pores clear (again, don't really use unless I get an oily face which hasn't happened since I started on the vitamins), and then I exfoliate once or twice a week.

My brother's 17 and had awful acne. He'd tried oxytetracycline, differin, duac etc, and was considering accutane. Then he cut out GI foods, cut his milk intake in half, change his bedsheets weekly and started on the vitamin routine, and with the same skin care products that hadn't been working for months, his acne cleared up within a month. He has 1 spot on his entire face.

So listen to timeofflight if you want to. She's probably done a fair bit of reading - maybe even a few scientific studies - but I can guarantee I've got far more experience in this department.